And we are back for another blast of premium audio soccer chat.
This week, Chris, Graham and Terry draw a line under the World Cup Qualifiers, dissect the Play Off draw and hope beyond words that Diego does not quit as Argentina boss.
Then we return to our own affairs and review last week's Premier League action. Graham tells us about his trip to the Emirates to see Arsenal beat Birmingham and we discuss the finer points of football law with regards to beach balls .
Finally we look forward to the Champions League and Europa League this week.
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It's ironic that at a time when the 'grow your own' movement has never been more popular (at least amongst gardeners), the Premier League have decided to impose strict new rules on its clubs to ensure they, too, use home-grown produce. Sorry - 'talent'.
All very noble too, except when you look into the make-up of most Premier League clubs, you'll find they're already largely abiding by the rules anyway.
According to Premier League chief Richard Scudamore, all clubs from the 2010-11 season onwards should have at least eight 'home-grown' players in a squad of 25. And by 'home-grown', that means a player who, between the ages of 16 and 21, have been registered for at least three years with an English or Welsh club.
A big shift in the way Premier League teams will line up? Not necessarily. Here's how the Arsenal team would look using players that already fall into line with the new rules.
Many familiar names are present, so much so that you'd be hard pushed to notice any major difference with the teams Arsenal put out at present anyway.
So is this the latest example of the powers-that-be tinkering unnecessarily with the beautiful game, or is it the work of a bunch of visionaries?
What to make of Emmanuel Adebayor? From hero to villain and back again twice, the Manchester City striker is deceptively difficult to get any kind of handle on.
The scorer of 62 goals in 114 appearances for Arsenal, Adebayor left the Emirates Stadium for Eastlands in the summer as one of Man City's many high-profile signings. He also left under rather a cloud, some fans saying he was lazy while others cast him as a temperamental and disruptive influence on the team.
Whatever he was (or is), Adebayor's switch to join Mark Hughes' team has reinvigorated his career, and indeed Manchester City's fortunes. In his first four games this season, the Togolese forward has bagged three goals, but just as neutral football fans everywhere were starting to re-evaluate his exciting play and goalscoring genius, Adebayor went and shot himself in the foot.
Yesterday's match between Arsenal and Manchester City saw Adebayor pick up his fourth goal of the season, but it was his post-goal celebration that made all the headlines. A 90-yard run back upfield to where the Arsenal supporters were situated, followed by a slide on his knees in front of them was at best inflammatory and at worst downright irresponsible. Only a matter of weeks after the hooliganism outside Upton Park, Adebayor couldn't have chosen a worse time to incite the fans that once revered him but now hate him over and above anyone wearing a Tottenham Hotspur shirt.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, referee Mark Clattenburg awarded Adebayor a yellow card with the potential for a further lengthy ban by the FA to come. Adebayor claims he got caught up in the emotion of the moment and has since apologised for his overexuberant celebration, but the damage has already been done, one feels.
Yet was this a chance to metaphorically stick two fingers up to the Arsenal fans that Adebayor found too irresistible to miss? Is it justifiable to suggest that the extreme opinions of a minority of Arsenal fans has polluted the minds of many others? Certainly the verbal treatment Adebayor received yesterday was far from pleasant and one could understand his eagerness to lash out at those who have been detrimental to his name. That said of course, there are ways and means to do so and running the entire length of the pitch to parade gleefully in front of them isn't one of them.
Elsewhere in the match, Adebayor caused further controversy with his rash reaction to a 50-50 challenge with Robin Van Persie that left the Dutch international bleeding from a cut near to his left eye. Van Persie's crude challenge won him the ball but Adebayor flicked his boot out at Van Persie in an act of petulance that will give the FA more evidence with which to suspend or fine him.
Even here, one has to note that Adebayor was himself challenged strongly only moments earlier by Van Persie and no doubt felt inclined to exact some revenge on his challenger, but that's all by the by. The 2008 African Player of the Year has much to learn about controlling his emotions and doesn't react well to the many trials and tribulations of the modern game, but unless he addresses those issues, we and Manchester City are likely to see a lot less of him in the future. The FA will soon see to that.
This time last year, SPAOTP brought you pictures of some of the new shirts being released for public purchase by each of the Premier League clubs, and we asked you to tell us what you thought of them.
This year, we've back again for more of the same and we've got even more new designs to show you, so let's crack on and see what the twenty clubs of the Premier League will be wearing this season. In Part 1, we begin with...
Arsenal ...and the first thing you notice about their new home and away shirts is that they're strangely familiar - particularly the away one.
Nike have this time come up with another of those 'controversial' Arsenal home shirts where the sleeves aren't predominantly white as we're all used to seeing - a bit like the first one they produced for The Gunners back in 1994 - but that navy blue stripe resonates with their 2000-2002 kit as well.
As for the yellow change shirt, that can only bring back memories of one thing - the exciting climax to Arsenal's 1988/89 season in which they beat Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield to clinch the title.
It's the classic combination - yellow with navy blue sleeves, and it's bound to prove a big hit with the Arsenal fans, purely for nostalgia value alone. A good pair of shirts from Nike, we think, and a slight improvement on last season.
Aston Villa Once again, we have a couple of offerings from Nike, but this time we're left with a slight feeling of disappointment.
Oh don't get us wrong - both the home and away shirts are nice and smart and no doubt well made, but they lack any sense of excitement or specific interest. Perhaps Nike went for the traditional look - something non-flashy and respectable?
Either way, the home shirt isn't vastly different from the one Villa wore last season, while the Summer Blue away shirt contrasts nicely with the previous white one. The thing is, we like Aston Villa's white away shirts so even that isn't scoring big points with us.
All in all then, a couple of safe shirts design-wise from Nike but if this were a school report we'd now be scribbling down the immortal phrase 'could do better...'
Blackburn Rovers The first of six Umbro offerings here, and already there's one thing to note - the new Blackburn away shirt is already available to buy via their club website, but the home shirt isn't. You'll therefore have to make do with a picture of David Dunn wearing it for the time being.
So let's begin with that home shirt. Once again, the pendulum that is the eternal debate about whether the kit should have red trim swings back in the direction of 'No'. In many ways, that makes this shirt smarter and more refined - OK, we're tempted to say it's potentially less interesting to look at, but we think it's nicely styled, actually.
And then there's the away shirt. Now this is more like it... We're big fans of this one as it's that classic 'feature stripe' design that comes back in vogue every so often. This one's well executed with a white and royal blue stripe going down the middle on a navy blue background, but a technical point here - shouldn't an away shirt be coloured in such a way that it contrasts significantly with the home shirt? Discuss...
Bolton Wanderers Now here's where we enter the realms of the surreal and the slightly comedic...
As you can see, Bolton's new shirts for home and away have what you might call a 'unique design element' - a strange dark-coloured thing that goes around the neck, over the shoulders and under the arms.
Seen from a distance and from certain angles, it looks like any player wearing one has got a rucksack strapped on his back. Suffice to say we fear for any replica shirt-wearing Bolton fan that has to catch a Tube train home from an away match in London this season.
While we're all in favour of creative design and a fresh approach, we think this is a step too far on the part of Reebok. We're also tempted to say that this is the sort of kit that you'll either love or hate, but to be honest it's more likely to just make you laugh more than anything. We'd like to be persuaded otherwise, though, so if you're a fan of Reebok's latest, leave us a comment and tell us why...
Chelsea Somewhat typically from one of the 'Big Four', we have not two but three new shirts for the coming season, all of which are once again brought to us by Adidas.
Seen side by side in this manner, you'd first have to say there's an element of the 'template kit' about this (not that Adidas are any strangers to the art of designing template kits) but there is at least some difference in all three shirts as can be seen by (a) their colours, and (b) their collars.
Yes, it's another example of that 'let's keep it simple' mentality which you can't really knock but at the same time it doesn't really set the pulse racing either. We think the first point on the agenda when Chelsea met up with Adidas this summer was 'Get rid of that fluorescent yellow aberration from last season', and that they've duly done. It's been replaced with an old-fashioned (for Chelsea) warm yellow and blue edition which is much more pleasing on the eye, although it'll probably end up selling fewer units than the black one.
Still, all three look good to us and they're probably already flying out of the Chelsea club shop as we speak. So what are your thoughts on the new Chelsea shirts, or indeed any of the shirts mentioned above? Which would you be happy to keep as a memento for your future grandchildren and which would you happily set fire to in a frantic fit of pyromania?
Leave us a comment and tell us - we'd love to know your opinions. Meantime, look out for Part 2 heading your way shortly as it features Everton, Fulham, Hull, Liverpool and Man City...
The concluding part of our series looking at the First Divison title race of 1988/89.
January 1989 It was a new year but old rivalries remained the same. Arsenal and Liverpool were striving for top spot in the First Division, but The Gunners had a nine point lead over The Reds and you'd be excused for thinking Kenny Dalglish's side were loosening their grip on the League Championship trophy.
Time, then, for a little distraction to test the powers of concentration. Enter the FA Cup Third Round... Arsenal were drawn away to West Ham while Liverpool had the considerably easier task of taking on Fourth Division Carlisle United. What could be easier than that? Going off to play non-league Sutton United, perhaps? Not if you're Coventry City. The part-timers dumped out the 1987 winners 2-1 to join a rare band of clubs from outside the Football League to get one over on their professional rivals in the competition.
As it was, Liverpool made far lighter work of their tie, beating Carlisle 3-0, but Arsenal slipped up. After a 2-2 draw at Upton Park, a replay back at Highbury saw them lose 1-0 to West Ham. The Gunners were now out of both Cup competitions, but at least their league form was more promising. They reached the end of January with two wins and a draw under their belt and were able to claim their second win of the season over Tottenham in the process.
Liverpool, for all their new-found Cup form, were still struggling in the league and ended January with two wins, a draw and their biggest defeat of the season so far, 3-1 away to Manchester United.
At the end of January 1989: Arsenal: PL 21 W 13 D 5 L 3 F 48 A 22 PTS 44 GD +26 Liverpool: PL 22 W 9 D 8 L 5 F 28 A 18 PTS 35 GD +10
February 1989 There was a marked difference in the activity of our two clubs during February. Though it was a busy time for Arsenal, playing six league fixtures, Liverpool's players only took to the field once in a 2-2 draw with Newcastle. That said, they did also play their Fourth and Fifth Round FA Cup ties which, for once, didn't involve a replay. A 2-0 win away to Millwall and a 3-2 win at Hull City was enough to take them into the quarter finals.
Arsenal entered the month with a league game in hand over Liverpool, but they made up for that and more with a near unbeaten run which began with a 2-1 revenge win over West Ham. What followed was a double header against Millwall that brought them four points out of six and a defeat away to Coventry City, so come the end of February George Graham's Arsenal side could boast a massive 19 point lead over Liverpool (albeit having played four games more).
The Reds would get their chance to play their own glut of fixtures during March, but the stats going into it must have given them something to think about...
At the end of February 1989: Arsenal: PL 27 W 16 D 7 L 4 F 54 A 25 PTS 55 GD +29 Liverpool: PL 23 W 9 D 9 L 5 F 30 A 20 PTS 36 GD +10
March 1989 If Liverpool's fans were starting to despair of their side's chances in the league at the beginning of March, their worries would be just distant memories at the end of it. This was where Kenny Dalglish's side finally clicked as everything suddenly went right for them.
While Arsenal hit an indifferent patch that saw them draw against Charlton, lose to Nottingham Forest and win against Southampton, Liverpool were in sublime form. During March they beat Charlton 2-0, Middlesbrough 4-0, Luton 5-0, Coventry 3-1, Tottenham 2-1 and Derby 1-0. It meant a maximum eighteen points were taken from six games in which they scored seventeen goals and conceded just two.
This blistering sequence of wins meant the gap between themselves and Arsenal was back down to just five points. The title race, it seemed, was back on again.
Oh, and Liverpool also beat Brentford 4-0 to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup, too. Did we mention that?
At the end of March 1989: Arsenal: PL 30 W 17 D 8 L 5 F 60 A 31 PTS 59 GD +29 Liverpool: PL 29 W 15 D 9 L 5 F 47 A 22 PTS 54 GD +25
April 1989 Though Liverpool's form continued in much the same vein, their achievements and those of every other club would be totally overshadowed by the events that happened at Hillsborough on April 15th 1989.
Liverpool's semi-final clash against Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's ground was abandoned after just six minutes when it became clear that many supporters at the Leppings Lane end of the stadium were being crushed. Around 5,000 people were waiting outside to get into the ground just before kick-off, prompting the police to open a set of gates that would allow them to quickly enter the stadium.
The ensuing crush resulted in 95 people losing their lives and many more being injured. It was one of the darkest days in the history of English football and no games were played for more than two weeks as the nation took stock of the harrowing scenes it saw.
As the month ended, Liverpool could at least look back on the three league wins they'd picked up prior to the events at Hillsborough that brought their run of consecutive victories to nine. Arsenal were able to boast an unbeaten run of their own too. A draw against a below-par Manchester United side and wins over Everton and Newcastle meant that when play resumed once again in May, the First Division title would be hanging delicately in the balance.
At the end of April 1989: Arsenal: PL 33 W 19 D 9 L 5 F 64 A 32 PTS 66 GD +32 Liverpool: PL 32 W 18 D 9 L 5 F 55 A 24 PTS 63 GD +31
May 1989 All eyes were on Liverpool and Arsenal as the First Division campaign reached its nail-biting finale. The gap between the two sides was now down to just three points but Arsenal had played a game more, and that became two when George Graham's side started the month with a convincing 5-0 win over Norwich.
Liverpool were next to play two days later, but their trip to bitter rivals Everton ended goalless. On May 6th, Arsenal took to the field again to face Middlesbrough, and once again, they emerged victorious - 1-0 winners away from home. Liverpool were now five points adrift with a game in hand.
The following day, May 7th 1989, saw the replayed FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, a game fuelled with emotion which Dalglish's side won 3-1 - two of the goals being scored by John Aldridge. They'd made it through to their third Cup Final in four years, and their opponents, fittingly, would be near neighbours Everton.
The Reds were back in action again just three days later when they played and beat Nottingham Forest again, this time 1-0 in the league. The following Saturday, a full card of First Division fixtures was played, and in it Liverpool won 2-1 away to Wimbledon while Arsenal lost 2-1 at home to Derby. This catastrophically-timed defeat by The Gunners meant that their lead over Liverpool was now just two points, and Liverpool still had to play their game in hand.
The following Tuesday at Anfield, Liverpool played host to Queens Park Rangers. A win would put them top of the First Division with just two games remaining, and they duly got it by two goals to nil. There was more drama to come when the following evening, Arsenal could only manage a 2-2 draw at home to Wimbledon. That meant both Arsenal and Liverpool were level on 73 points with The Gunners' goal difference better off by just two.
Before the last two fixtures could be played there was the small matter of the FA Cup Final to deal with, but a resurgent Liverpool proved there was little they couldn't handle when they won an entertaining match 3-2 after extra time. It was an incredible achievement on the part of the Liverpool players near the end of a season that had left them physically and emotionally drained. Could they last out to the end of the league competition and win the double?
Tuesday 23rd May 1989. The pressure was now building. With an incredible sense of coincidence, the last game of 1988-89 was to be played at Anfield between Arsenal and Liverpool, but before that, Dalglish's men had one extra game to squeeze in - a home tie against West Ham. With the goal difference situation being so close, Liverpool not only had to win, but win by as many goals as possible. The final score was Liverpool 5, West Ham 1.
Friday 26th May 1989. The last game of the season - Liverpool v Arsenal. Winner takes all. Having staged a monumental comeback since the start of March that had seen them win thirteen of their fourteen league matches, Liverpool were now on top of the table. They were three points ahead of Arsenal, but crucially their goal difference was +39 compared to +37 for The Gunners.
The stage was set. A 1-0 win for Arsenal would not be enough - they would have to defeat Liverpool by two clear goals to reclaim the First Division title, and only then because Arsenal had a better 'Goals Scored' figure than their opponents. Liverpool only needed a draw.
The match began, and the first half was a tense affair, ending goalless. Liverpool remained in the driving seat, but shortly after the restart, Alan Smith headed in from a Nigel Winterburn free kick to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead.
The visitors had found renewed hope, but their efforts throughout the remainder of the second half were coming to nothing. The elusive second goal they wanted so badly looked unlikely to come, but then in injury time Arsenal's Michael Thomas took up an Alan Smith pass inside the Liverpool half, got past Steve Nicol who tried and failed to win the ball from him, and with the last kick of the game and indeed the season, Thomas slotted the ball past Bruce Grobelaar in the Liverpool goal.
The visiting supporters went wild, the referee blew his whistle and that was that. Liverpool's hopes of retaining the title after an incredible late-season surge had been dashed as George Graham's side won the league when many thought their chance had gone.
End of May 1989: Arsenal: PL 38 W 22 D 10 L 6 F 73 A 36 PTS 76 GD +37 Liverpool: PL 38 W 22 D 10 L 6 F 65 A 28 PTS 76 GD +37
Number of points gained by Arsenal and Liverpool during the 1988/89 season.
It was Arsenal's first league championship win for eighteen years and the victory was made all the sweeter by the way it had been attained. The narrowest possible margin was what came between Arsenal and Liverpool at the end of the 1988-89 season, and it's doubtless we'll ever see such a remarkable finish to the season again.
It beggars belief but despite what a lot of people would have you believe, this season's Premier League title race is still wide open. No really.
Man United are only three points ahead of second-placed Chelsea, and though Arsenal are a further four points behind Avram Grant's men, they can look forward to games against Derby and Sunderland which should garner six points if all goes to plan.
So in general then, it's a three-horse-race for the title (come on you miserable lot - where's your sense of imagination?) but despite the excitement this is likely to generate, nothing beats the climax to the 1988/89 First Division campaign for sheer pant-wetting exhilaration.
Chances are you already know the end to this story, but what about the beginning and the middle? Let SPAOTP tell you how it all happened in this two-part tale of tears, cheers and Michael Thomas putting on over on his future employers…
August and September 1988 The start of a new football season. Liverpool were the reigning champions having won the previous First Division championship by nine points. They'd only lost two games in the whole shooting match, so The Reds entered the 1988/89 season as red-hot favourites to do it again (no pun intended).
Millwall were in the top flight for the first time having picked up the Division Two title, and joining them up among the big boys were Graham Taylor's Aston Villa and a Middlesbrough side that had inflicted relegation on Chelsea via the new end-of-season play-offs.
Elsewhere, Wimbledon were still basking in the dying glow of a victory in the FA Cup Final over Liverpool while Luton were the League Cup champions after beating Arsenal (to the surprise of many) at Wembley.
Among the top stars of the day were Newcastle's Paul Gascoigne, voted Young Player of the Year, and Liverpool's John Barnes who won the grown-up version of the top award while on the England front, a pall of gloom hung over the country following a distinctly dismal trio of performances in Euro 88. Bobby Robson's men had been eliminated at the end of the First Round, leading to many calls for his resignation.
Back to the new First Division season though, and the two teams who were to be the fiercest of arch-rivals and main title contenders, Arsenal and Liverpool, both began with opening day wins at the end of August, but September would force some early daylight between them.
While Liverpool picked up two wins (including one over Manchester United) and two draws, Arsenal looked decidedly shaky. Only a 3-2 win away to Tottenham provided any hope for Gunners fans as they also saw their side lose 3-2 at home to Aston Villa, 2-1 away to Sheffield Wednesday and draw 2-2 with Southampton at Highbury.
At the end of September 1988: Liverpool: PL 5 W 3 D 2 L 0 F 9 A 3 PTS 11 GD +6 Arsenal: PL 5 W 2 D 1 L 2 F 13 A 10 PTS 7 GD +3
October 1988 Arsenal finally managed to reverse their faltering start to the season by going unbeaten throughout October '88, thanks to three wins against West Ham, QPR and Coventry and a draw against Luton Town.
Liverpool, however, were going in the opposite direction. Only one win (also against West Ham) and a draw against Coventry was all Kenny Dalglish's men had to show for their efforts. Defeats at the hands of Newcastle, Luton and Nottingham Forest meant they were now two points behind Arsenal at the end of the month having played an extra game.
Having lost only two games throughout the whole of the 1987/88 season, Liverpool had now lost three before the end of October. Was this the start of a catastrophe for the Anfield club?
At the end of October 1988: Arsenal: PL 9 W 5 D 2 L 2 F 22 A 13 PTS 17 GD +9 Liverpool: PL 10 W 4 D 3 L 3 F 13 A 8 PTS 15 GD +5
November 1988 Both teams came through November largely unscathed with Liverpool unbeaten thanks to two wins and two draws and Arsenal picking up three wins before a 2-1 defeat at Derby blotted their copy book.
Elsewhere, there was the League Cup to be considered and ironically both teams faced each other in a Third Round tie at the start of the month. Arsenal had already beaten Hull City 5-1 on aggregate and Liverpool had disposed of Walsall 4-1 over their two Second Round legs, but this would prove an altogether tougher tie to settle.
When Arsenal travelled to Anfield on November 2nd, the match ended a 1-1 draw. Back the two teams went to Highbury a week later, but the score there was 0-0. A second replay was therefore required, and when the two sides met again at Anfield it was the home side that finally broke the deadlock, winning the match 2-1. Arsenal were out, but would the early exit save tired legs for later battles at the end of the season?
At the end of November 1988: Arsenal: PL 13 W 8 D 2 L 3 F 31 A 16 PTS 26 GD +15 Liverpool: PL 14 W 6 D 5 L 3 F 19 A 10 PTS 23 GD +9
December 1988 Arsenal went from strength to strength as the year came to an end with another unbeaten month safely sown up, thanks to wins against Man United, Charlton and Aston Villa along with two draws, one of which was at home to Liverpool. It meant the two teams had faced each other four times in just over a month.
The Reds' form was rather more ordinary-looking and their supply of goals was also drying up. Following the 1-1 draw with Arsenal was another at home to Everton, followed by a 1-0 home defeat to Norwich and a 1-0 away win at Derby. Even their place in the League Cup which they'd fought so hard for in November had now been taken away from them by West Ham, who knocked Liverpool out 4-1 in the Fourth Round.
At the end of December 1988: Arsenal:PL 18 W 11 D 4 L 3 F 42 A 20 PTS 37 GD +22 Liverpool: PL 18 W 7 D 7 L 4 F 22 A 13 PTS 28 GD +9
With a nine point lead over the reigning champions at the end of 1988, Arsenal appeared to be pulling further and further away from Liverpool and the chasing pack in the race for the title, but for how much longer? Come back soon for the second and final thrilling instalment of 'Now That's What I Call A Title Race'...
Isn't it amazing how the three-horse-race in this season's Premier League has shown Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United to be equally as fallible? Very rarely have any of them got together a long run of wins to get them ahead of the chasing pack. What we see at the moment is Arsenal at the top of the table on 65 points, Man United a point behind on 64 with Chelsea in third on 58 points but with a game in hand on the other two.
So with all three teams dropping points with some regularity, is there any way to tell which will prevail in the battle to win the Premier League? Hopefully there is thanks to a nifty little graph we've created which shows the form of all three clubs on a month-to-month basis since the start of the season.
What we've done is calculate how many of the available points Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United collected for each month since the season started last August and shown the figures as percentages on our graph. So for instance, if during September Arsenal won three games and lost one, that would mean they picked up 9 points from a possible 12 which in turn means Arsenal picked up 75% of the available points for that month… clear? Good.
So here's the graph and the main thing to note is that the red line represents Arsenal, the white line represents Man United and the blue is for Chelsea (naturally).
(click image for bigger version)
And while you're looking at that, let's track how the three teams did throughout each month.
August 2007 Man United's start to the season was a pretty poor one by their standards. Only one win in their first four games, along with a defeat away to near neighbours Man City, left them with a success rate of only 41.7%. Chelsea, meanwhile, won three out of four of their games with only Liverpool stopping them from winning in a 1-1 draw at Anfield. Arsenal played three games, two of which were wins - the other being a draw away to Blackburn.
September 2007 A much better month for Man United. Following their only August win at home to Tottenham, they won all four of their matches in September including a 2-0 victory of Chelsea at Old Trafford. Arsenal also won four out of four, of which two were against London neighbours Spurs and West Ham. Chelsea, however, had an absolute shocker of a month. Only two points from a possible twelve left them with a success rating of only 16.7%, causing Jose Mourinho to leave the Stamford Bridge club.
October 2007 Man United's amazing run of wins in September extended right through to the end of October as well. They scored four goals in all three of their games against Wigan, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough leaving them level with Arsenal on points and goal difference at the end of the month. Arsenal's lead at the top of the table was wiped out when they dropped their only points in October in a 1-1 draw against Liverpool. Chelsea, however, were doing much better under new manager Avram Grant. They won three out of three including a 6-0 win over Manchester City.
November 2007 Chelsea and Arsenal kept their campaigns ticking along as both teams won two games and drew one, giving them a success rating of 77.8%. For Man United, however, November saw a return to the poor form of August. After a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Arsenal, they earned a 2-0 home win over Blackburn before a shock defeat to Bolton left them three points behind Arsenal in the title race again.
December 2007 A busy month for all teams, particularly Arsenal who had a game in hand to fit in along with the six matches already scheduled for the festive season. It was in fact Manchester United who came through it best, though, winning five consecutive games before ending the year with a surprise 2-1 defeat to West Ham. Arsenal won four and drew two of their seven ties, losing only to Middlesbrough, but Chelsea lost further ground in the chase for the title despite losing only one of their six games in December against fellow challengers Arsenal.
January 2008 The new year saw excellent form on the part of all three teams, especially Man United and Chelsea who had a 100% record after their four games. Arsenal managed to win three and draw one during January, Birmingham being the only team to take points from The Gunners all month. Once again, Arsenal's slight slip allowed Manchester United to draw level with them on points, but this time United topped the table due to a superior goal difference.
February 2008 Having clawed their way back to within four points of the leaders, Chelsea saw all their hard work undone during February. Admittedly they played only twice last month, but both games ended in draws at the hands of Liverpool and Portsmouth. Arsenal pulled away from Man United at the top of the table once again thanks to two wins and yet another draw against Birmingham, but Sir Alex Ferguson's men had to endure their third bad patch of the season. A second defeat to Man City and a draw at Tottenham was only offset by another convincing win against Newcastle.
…and that brings us almost up to date. There has, of course, been one match so far this month and that resulted in Arsenal's three point lead over United being reduced to one, but look at the graph. Notice how Arsenal's line is much straighter than Man United's which has a distinctly alpine look. Does that suggest The Gunners are much more consistent and therefore more likely to win the title come May? Can Chelsea make their game in hand count and mount a decent challenge of their own?
Your thoughts, as ever, will be interesting to hear…
So let's see - we're four or five games into the Premier League season and what seems to be happening? Well according to Jose Mourinho the title race is wide open. That maybe true, but what's apparent already is that out of the 'big four' that most of us had pencilled in to finish near the top, it's Arsenal and Liverpool that are leading the way, not Man United and Chelsea.
I don’t know about you but when I heard that Arsenal were 1-0 down to Fulham with six minutes to go on the opening day of the season, I feared the worst. No Thierry Henry, no ruthless front man to put the goals in the net. The writing was on the wall until Van Persie and Hleb cropped up with a couple of winners, but from that point onwards they’ve barely looked back. The only points they’ve dropped so far have been against Blackburn where they drew 1-1.
The Reds have been even more convincing. Like Arsenal, they've only dropped two points up to now, but they were against Chelsea. Yet what makes Liverpool a real eye-opening title challenger this season is the way Rafa Benitez has managed to bring in new players and get them playing to their strengths. No longer are they relying on wing-play and crosses into the box . Now a more direct approach is the order of the day. Players like Torres and Voronin are being given the ball and told to do what they do best: take on defenders and shoot on sight.
It's a method that's paid dividends so far. For a start they were able to beat Aston Villa 2-1 away (something that Chelsea failed to do yesterday) and most notably they demolished Derby County 6-0. OK, so Derby aren’t exactly the toughest opponents anyone will play all year, but they'll doubtless trip someone up before the season's over.
The absence of Thierry Henry seems to have had a strange effect on Arsenal. Instead of contemplating a future without a world-class striker, many of the players now look relieved to have thrown off the shackles of being just another one of Henry's support team. Individuals are now finding a chance to shine in their own right. A look at Arsenal's scoresheets from the first three weeks of the season backs this up: names like Van Persie, Adebayor, Rosicky, Fabregas and Hleb show that goals are now coming from a variety of sources, rather than the one that now plays for Barcelona.
It's remarkably similar to the way Man United used to play but may have now lost. If one player was off form, someone else in the team could step in to provide the goals but without a main striker of note until this weekend, United suddenly found that the supply chain had broken down. Think of Man U teams in the recent past and practically anyone could have scored in any match. Giggs, Scholes, Solskjaer, Keane, Beckham, Butt, Cole, Sheringham, Yorke - even defenders like O'Shea and Ferdinand might have chipped in with the odd one here or there. This season it's been a different story.
After United's Carling Cup Final victory in 2005/06, they went on to score 23 goals in 12 games but in the five they've played since August 12th this year, they've managed just three.
Now before I go on, yes I know it's early days so far and that anything can happen between now and May 11th 2008 but it has to be said that Sir Alex Ferguson's team appears to lack the strength in depth they once had. Never more has this been apparent since Ronaldo and Rooney took their leave of absence, but what of Tevez? Wasn't he the one that was going to give United some flair and plenty of goals? Sadly I think he's the victim of United's new playing style - too much passing and too little in the way of impulsive shooting from anywhere on the pitch.
All of which leaves Chelsea. Their only defeat of the season so far was rather mind-boggling in that Aston Villa's 2-0 win wasn't a fair reflection of who the superior team was. Martin O'Neill's men certainly defended well, but it was more a case of Mourinho's team having a 'bad day at the office.' Yet even there it's interesting to see Chelsea's 'goals scored' column for their first five games: three, two, one, one, zero.
So was it a case of 'too much talent, not enough end product' or were Aston Villa just playing out of their skins yesterday? Looking at Villa's results this season, perhaps the former. Villa have only lost once in their first four games and that was to Liverpool, so maybe Chelsea's title challenge isn't the stuff of major catastrophe after all. My guess it was just a blip, but their next game against Blackburn will prove or deny that.
On reflection then, the race for the title has started with no team taking maximum points from their first four games. No one team has laid down the gauntlet to the rest of the league, so is this Liverpool's best chance to finally get their name on the trophy? Watch this space…
Just for a change, today's new Premier League shirt for the 2007/08 season is not made by Umbro. Instead it's Nike's latest offering that Arsenal will be wearing for the majority of their upcoming away games...
As you can see, it's white. Nothing wrong with that, you might think, but it appears to have turned a few heads in North London - not least by the Tottenham Hotspur fans who claim their most ardent rivals are now wearing the same colour as them.
Personally, I feel such teasing is inconsequential. It's actually a pleasant change to see Arsenal wearing a 2nd shirt that isn't yellow or blue (good though they've been on many occasions) and it looks even better when married up with the redcurrant shorts (that's the colour, not the material they're made from).
Yes this is the new Arsenal away shirt made by Nike to honour Herbert Chapman, manager of The Gunners between 1925 and 1934. Chapman was seen as an innovator on all levels and is widely acknowledged as being the man who laid the foundations that made Arsenal one of the biggest clubs in the world today.
The shirt is currently available to pre-order from the Arsenal website and will go on sale from July 5th, priced £40.00.
All of which leaves us with one question: what do you think of it? Cast your vote below or leave us a comment - we'd love to hear what you think.
Let your imagination drift now as we take you back to the 1982-83 season in England.
Liverpool began the season as champions, Ipswich Town were playing in Europe (well we did tell you to let your imagination drift) and so, too, were Arsenal. A fourth place finish the season before ensured them entry to the UEFA Cup, so what better way to celebrate than to ditch the boring old kit they'd been wearing since Charlie George was a lad?
Their new kit was silky and shiny and the shirt even had [gasp!] a v-neck wingless collar. It also had a stripy pair of red and navy blue socks to complete the ensemble, but what of that yellow and blue away kit? Surely it was just as iconic and seemingly untouchable as the red and white home kit, n'est-ce pas?
Well, no - at least not in the eyes of the Umbro kit designers who felt the time was right to ring the changes in dramatic style, and so they did.
So behold, then - the 1982/83 GREEN and blue change strip...
Yes, you read correctly: Arsenal once wore green shirts away from home. Not for long, mind you. The move to green and navy blue turned out to be about as popular as an anthrax-eating contest.
Oh sure, it was worn a few times, and it pains me to say it that one of those occasions was a defeat of West Ham, but it never quite caught on the way Umbro wanted. They tried bringing in green change strips for other teams such as Bolton Wanderers in the same season, but time after time it was met with dismay by the fans.
Lack of sales caused the Arsenal green and blue away kit to be replaced with a far more traditional yellow and blue one the following season and that was that - the Gunners' were never to wear that particular colour combination again.
And so the trend continues even to this day. You'd still be hard pushed to find a green shirt outside of Plymouth Argyle, perhaps because the grass makes it hard for players to see each other, but you'd think someone somewhere in England would want to adopt it as their own colour, wouldn't you?
Bring back green, I say! Oh and while you're at it, bring back orange and purple too - we could do with more colour in the modern game...
(Our thanks go to John Devlin at True Colours Football Kits for giving us kind permission to use the above kit design image.)
The Carling Cup Final last Sunday didn't show itself in the best of lights thanks to the mass brawl that ensued near its end, but two players did avoid the fisticuffs and covered themselves in glory as they did so. Chelsea's Didier Drogba scored twice to win the match while Arsenal's Theo Walcott scored his first goal for the club in reply.
Let's connect the two in our usual spurious fashion...
Didier Drogba or ‘Top Drog’ as he’s known to many of his fans, currently leads the way as top goalscorer in the FA Premier League. Though born in the Ivory Coast, he began his footballing career in France playing for Le Mans, Guingamp and Marseille. The man who signed him for the latter of these was
Alain Perrin, one-time manager of Portsmouth. Though he helped the south coast club avoid relegation towards the end of the 2004/05 season, he failed to start 2005/06 in a convincing fashion and was sacked eight months after his arrival at Fratton Park. Christened ‘Reggie’ by fans and popular press alike after the TV sitcom character of the same name, he was succeeded in the manager’s position by
Harry Redknapp who had done the job once before in 2002. Harry Redknapp not only played for and managed Bournemouth but achieved the same feat with West Ham United with whom he started out as a player. Redknapp’s playing days ended in 1979 at another London club, Brentford, as was the case for
Stan Bowles. ‘Stan the Man’ was a cult hero of the 1970’s and was well-known to like a bet or two. This was once shown in a match he played for QPR against Sunderland at Roker Park in 1973. The home team had recently won the FA Cup and were displaying it on a pitch-side table when Bowles accepted a financially-induced challenge from one of his team-mates. Could anybody knock the Cup off the table by kicking the ball at it? Stan Bowles did with a fearsome drive that understandably outraged the Sunderland fans. He went on to score two in the match, reinforcing his image as the natural replacement for
Rodney Marsh at Queens Park Rangers. Marsh wasn’t so good when it came to bets. As a Sky Sports pundit, he offered to have his hair cut off if Bradford City avoided relegation in 2000 and suggested Wigan fans could put him in stocks and throw rotten tomatoes at him if their side didn’t win more than seven games in the 2005/06 season. Marsh got both wrong, although he was later spared the rotten tomato treatment. Marsh shares the same birthday, October 11th, with
Sir Bobby Charlton, scorer of 199 goals for Manchester United and 49 goals for England. Charlton is simply one of the greatest English footballers that ever lived. Having survived the Munich air disaster that ended the lives of many of his United team mates in 1958, he went on to win a World Cup winner's medal in 1966 and a European Cup winner's medal in 1968. He still holds the record for most England goals and most appearances for Manchester United, all of which earned him a much-deserved place in the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002, four years ahead of Arsene Wenger, current manager of an Arsenal side featuring
Theo Walcott. Although the 17-year-old is yet to reach the heights of Sir Bobby, he can at least claim to have done something he didn't, and that's play in and score during a League Cup Final. Let's hope in years to come we can say he spearheaded an England campaign that resulted in a World Cup Final win just like Charlton did. (Well we can dream, can't we?)
There are some players in the game who attract the contempt of fans all over the country. There are some who find themselves on the wrong end of the fans' ridicule. And then there are some players who are frankly so dumb that they defy any such categorisation. These are the players we'll be saluting in the Some People Are On The Pitch Dumb Footballer of the Year Award.
The first nomination is for Jens Lehman of Arsenal and Germany.
He is deserving of his place on the shortlist following the Arsenal v Wigan Athletic match on Sunday 11th February 2007. Here's why:
Wigan led the match from the 35th minute following a goal by Denny Landzaat and sensing a chance to hold on for a rare away victory at the Emirates, they set about frustrating their hosts by wasting a bit of time here or there. Chief culprit for the Latics was Chris Kirkland, their goalkeeper. He was duly booked by the referee for his trouble.
As the match progressed, Arsenal got more and more desperate for an equalizer and ever more wound up by the liberal wastage of time by Wigan. Finally, Arsene Wenger's side drew level in the 81st minute after a Fitz Hall own goal. Thierry Henry couldn't help but rub salt in the wound for Kirkland with a quick word in his ear as he returned the ball to the centre spot but there was more to come for Arsenal.
Four minutes later, Tomas Rosicky gave his side a 2-1 lead and with five minutes of normal time remaining, Arsenal were feeling like justice had finally been done. To ram home the point, Jens Lehman stepped into the fray to give Wigan a taste of their own medicine now they had their noses in front.
As the ball went off the pitch behind his goal, Lehman was handed the ball by one of the ball-boys. In an effort to deliberately waste some time for his own team, he made a weak attempt to throw the ball back onto the pitch which, unsurprisingly, resulted in the ball bouncing back to him via a nearby billboard.
He'd succeeded. By the time he'd returned to the pitch with the ball, the Wigan players had already pointed out the offence to the referee and his yellow card was being raised into Lehman's line of vision. It seemed fair to the rest of us that if Kirkland had been booked for timewasting, so should Jens Lehman.
Lehman himself might have even agreed, yet he'd overlooked one thing. Lehman had already been booked four times this season, so this fifth booking meant he'd be banned from playing in Arsenal's next game.
Stupidity out of immaturity, you might think, until you learn that Arsenal's next match is the Carling Cup Final against Chelsea. Jens Lehmann had taken himself out of the running for a place in a prestige Cup Final by acting like an impetuous schoolboy. That's Jens Lehman, 37-year-old goalkeeper of Arsenal, known to many as 'Super Jens' although, we suspect, not as many as before the Wigan match.
So there you have it - our first nomination for Dumb Footballer of the Year and it has to be said it may take some doing to beat that opening gambit, but rest assured there will be more on the way soon. Watch this space...
And we are back for another blast of premium audio soccer chat.
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